May 22, 2013
Alberta, Editorials

Wind farms proposal in France an affront to memories of Canadian soldiers

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on May 22, 2013 | medicinehatnews.com

The French government’s proposal to build wind farms off the coast of Normandy, including Juno Beach, where so many allied soldiers died freeing that country from Nazi tyranny, is an affront to all Canadians.

The French government is asking for feedback on the proposal from representatives of the allied nations who took part in D-Day. Every Canadian citizen who values freedom in this country, and respects the memories of the soldiers who died for the freedom of Europe in the Second World War should write Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney and let him know not only is this wrong, it is shameful.

It is no secret the French government and much of Europe is suffering economic hardships, but that is no justification for the desecration of graveyards and monuments to the honoured dead.

Many of us have relatives who fought in the Second World War and on D-Day. Just because those relatives may have passed away does not mean we can tred upon and crush their legacy under our feet.

As the old Second World War generation passes away, there is an obligation on the part of this generation of Canadians to stand in for them and remember what they sacrificed and fought for. We must hold the torch so that never again will human monsters have at their command the ability to cause so much misery and suffering.

Juno Beach may be a windswept spit of land with the potential utility to help France in its current economic crisis, but it is not just any spit of land. It’s a haunted place full of pain, and a memorial to our Canadian soldiers’ suffering.

Some things in life are sacred. There are some things which cannot be tabulated, figured or assigned dollar value to.

Often past economic crises have led to desperation, and this principle of sacredness forgotten. The result was the rise of monsters like Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin.

And where do these monsters live among us today? Where they always are. They live in the shadows of the margins whenever we propose things like defacing historical monuments or building wind farms on blood soaked land.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/05/22/wind-farms-proposal-in-france-an-affront-to-memories-of-canadian-soldiers/